Are you automatically building relationships and connections with your customers

EveryMinute?Hour?Day?

So you aren't spending enough time on new customers.

You probably already know the significant cost of acquiring new customers, and that small businesses feel this cost the most. On average it costs 6-7 times more to acquire a customer than it does to retain an existing one, which presents a significant challenge, as customer growth is the primary driving force that grows many small businesses year after year.

If you're a small or medium sized business you understand that your time and the time of your team are the most valuable, yet limited, resource. You have a finite amount of 'human power' driving your company's growth and a significant portion of that is dedicated to dealing with your customers.

Unfortunately what happens, is you either focus on your existing customers, as they are much easier to retain, in neglect of gaining new customers (and growth), or (rarely) you focus on acquiring new customers at the expense of your existing ones. With limited resources, you can't be everywhere at once, serving everyone all the time (unless of course you plan to work long hours, or try to get your team too, which will make for a very unhappy team and you).

As a business owner, I know you want to make sure your existing customers are looked after, to ensure they remain loyal and happy, after all they are paying the bills and occasionally refer others. But I'm betting you'd also like to be able to attract, build relationships and trust with new customers, so that your business can grow, all at the same time (that's why you're here, right?).

Because acquiring new customers is hard work.

The cost of acquiring new customers is significant due to the sheer amount of work that needs to be done before someone is willing to make a decision and part with their money. You need to show them that you're: trustworthy, have their needs in mind, understand those needs and their pains, actually have a solution that will ease their pain or provide for their need, and then be 'there' when they want to make a purchase. And you need to do all of this even if they don't realise their own pain/need!

Sales is too often simplified as having the right product at the right time. Although this can be partly true (especially in emotionally motivated buying situations), for most business it is only part of the equation. It assumes that your product fulfills an immediate need of your customer and you are 'there' when they need it NOW. But what if your product or service is one that potential customers need to carefully consider before they make a buying decision? Or one that they might be considering to replace an existing one? Many products and services are considered 'high touch', meaning that, they involve a lot of business to customer interaction before they ultimately become a (paying) customer. If your business is one of these, you can't avoid the trust and relationship building process that needs to occur, before they will send you their hard earned money.

But, I get it (and hear you) all this takes so much time. You're a small business with limited team resources, so how could you possibly grow at the rate that you are ultimately striving for, without employing more people?

But, what if you had a website and marketing setup that has customers responding to you, without you lifting a finger?

Years ago when I was employed as a Sales Rep for a large multi-national organisation, my job description said 'sales representative or territory manager', what that really meant was in-person customer relationship manager, builder and finder. My entire job was to build relationships with customers (existing and new) so that they would buy from the company I worked for.

To even justify my salary and getting paid (and the supporting staff, warehouse etc) I had to bring in about a million dollars a year in sales, which increased every year. My boss knew it was a numbers game (which it is), the more people I could start relationships with, the more the orders would come in. But I was one 'limited resource', I had to drive all over the state, have meetings, create conversation, find out what their problems, issues or pain points were, see if we had something to solve it, offer it, and then get the order. And no matter how good I was, I couldn't be everywhere at once, meaning that I would sometimes miss the 'timing' aspect for some sales.

If only they had, what I know how to build today, it would have made all of us, much more successful (and I still don't think they use it even now).

I'm talking about Marketing Automation

More specifically utilising a website, advertising and marketing automation software, to connect and build a relationship with your potential customers, so you don't physically have to.

Marketing Automation works so well, that most customers have no idea that you've automated their 'onboarding' process. One of my current clients was surprised to hear that such a thing even existed, and then couldn't believe how well it worked, within the first few days!

I have had about 7 emails from clients responding to the follow up emails already, which is really good!

Marketing Automation allows you to build relationships, one on one, with potential customers, all day, everyday, even during your busiest periods and it doesn't matter how many prospects you throw at it, each and every one is having an interaction with you.

The company that I worked for was a large multinational, had resources for numerous sales people and even still, I know that they could benefit from implementing a process that involves marketing automation.

The great thing is, small businesses, with fewer sales people (or even none) and less resources, can implement the exact same strategies, have access to the same software and can leverage marketing automation, to drive customer relationship building, grow their customer numbers and increase their overall profitability. The difference is, ,many of these large businesses aren't doing it (yet) because deciding on implementing changes in procedures takes a long time, but you could implement all of these, right now.

If you were to setup a new online marketing strategy that involved utilising marketing automation, you would be:

Freeing up time spent on dead end leads.

Building relationships with multiple customers at the same time, on their time and when they want it.

Building trust by educating them about your products or services.

Communication the value and benefits of what you provide and how that solves their needs.

Following up and focusing on the customers who show you they are ready for what you are offering.

Letting automation take care of the time consuming part of creating an initial relationship with a prospective customer.

Helping your team be more effective at growing your business.

"I can’t believe that they think it isn’t automated!!! It’s amazing how these people are really believing that the emails are genuine!!" Bryce O'Donoghue Manager - Merchandise & Marketing
The question isn't really IF you should be using marketing automation, it should be how do you implement it now. I will be upfront and say that you don't NEED marketing automation, if you really enjoy having your team spend lots of time with prospective customers that never buy (I hated this in sales), or if your customers don't use the Internet or email (it's not going to be much help).

But if you want to have a more effective team, a business that automatically builds relationships with customers, and only have to invest time into prospective customers when they are ready to buy, then marketing automation is definitely something you should be implementing, ASAP.

It doesn't matter if you have an existing website or need a new one developed. What matters is that you want to make a change to what you do now. If you are unsure about trying something different and really want to stick with your current way of doing things, then this isn't for you. But if you want to take advantage of technology to make big changes in how you deal with your customers, then I suggest you get in touch quickly.

Ready to start now?

If you are interested in discussing a project, get in touch below and we'll start with an on the phone 20 minute discussion. If you're ready to get started right now, you can sign up for a Roadmapping session to assess and layout exactly how you can implement marketing automation into your existing business.

Note: I can only work with a few clients at a time, as this does take time and work to implement. I literally have space for only 2 more clients at the moment. I work directly with each and every one of you to make sure that we are maximizing the potential of your project.